Upper garment

ABSTRACT

The present invention has an object to provide an upper garment that prevents sleeves from dropping and a garment body from unnecessarily largely moving, is less likely to lose its shape, and can provide a comfortable wear feeling, even during strenuous exercise such as sports, particularly, when the arm is raised or rotated. A sleeve peak point  6  of an armhole  5  is located between: a trapezius muscle stop point b 1  on a shoulder ridge line L of a wearer in an arm A lowered state; and a trapezius muscle stop point b 3  on the shoulder ridge line L of the wearer in an arm A raised state, whereby an arm bending point during arm raising and the armhole  5  coincide with each other. Hence, when the arm A is raised or rotated, sleeves  4  are prevented from dropping, and a garment body is prevented from unnecessarily largely moving. Further, a portion of the armhole  5  on a front garment body  2  side is designed to pass through a deltopectoral groove between a deltoid muscle E and a pectoralis major muscle D of the wearer, whereby the upward retainability of the sleeves and the position stability of the garment body are further improved.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to an upper garment that is less likely tolose its shape and can provide a comfortable wear feeling even duringstrenuous exercise such as sports, because armhole shapes of sleeves ofthe upper garment are devised.

BACKGROUND ART

Up to now, upper garments that are expected to provide wear feelingsimproved by devising sleeve shapes are disclosed in Patent Literature 1and Patent Literature 2.

Unfortunately, these upper garments are likely to lose their shapes andcannot provide comfortable wear feelings during strenuous exercise suchas sports.

A conventional upper garment 11 used for sports shirts and the likeincludes a front garment body 12, a back garment body 13, and sleeves14. The sleeves 14 and the front garment body 12 are sewn to each otherthrough armholes 15, and the sleeves 14 and the back garment body 13 aresewn to each other through the armholes 15.

Examples of the sleeves 14 having shapes standard for the conventionalupper garment 11 include a set-in sleeve illustrated in FIG. 4 to FIG. 6and a raglan sleeve illustrated in FIG. 7 to FIG. 9.

Particularly the set-in sleeve is considered as a prototype of sleeves,and is adopted for the most items.

As illustrated in FIG. 4 to FIG. 6, the set-in sleeve is designed suchthat a sleeve peak point 16 of an armhole 15 passes through a shouldertip point S.

Features of the set-in sleeve are as follows.

1) The set-in sleeve is designed such that the wear comfort becomes bestin the state where the arm is naturally lowered.

2) The set-in sleeve has a simple structure, and thus is easily suitedto every design.

Next, as illustrated in FIG. 7 to FIG. 9, the raglan sleeve is obtainedby developing the set-in sleeve, and is more improved in functionality.

As illustrated in FIG. 7 to FIG. 9, the raglan sleeve is designed suchthat a portion of an armhole 15 on the front garment body 12 sideconnects a front armpit point F to the front side of a neck side pointN₂ and that a portion of the armhole 15 on the back garment body 13 sideconnects a back armpit point H to the back side of the neck side pointN₂. A shoulder tip portion at a sleeve peak of the raglan sleeve isrounded.

The raglan sleeve is used particularly in the case where a portionaround the shoulder is desired to be seamless, and features of theraglan sleeve are as follows.

1) The raglan sleeve follows the roundness of the shoulder tip of thehuman body, and the sleeve edge thereof is not significantly lowered,whereby the wear comfort and the exercise performance are considered.

2) The armhole is wide, and this enables the arm to easily passtherethrough.

3) Because there is no seam around the shoulder, a seam allowance isless likely to contact the skin.

Moreover, Patent Literature 3 discloses a bicycle shirt worn by cyclistsand the like, in which each armhole is formed in a special shape asillustrated in FIG. 10 and FIG. 11, in order to: cause almost nounnecessary crease even at a posture at which a wearer rides on abicycle; and reduce stresses applied to the body of the wearer such as astiffening feeling and a twitching feeling of the shirt.

CITATION LIST Patent Literature

-   Patent Literature 1: Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-129316-   Patent Literature 2: Japanese Utility Model No. 3064858-   Patent Literature 3: Japanese Design No. 1430374

SUMMARY OF INVENTION Technical Problem

In the upper garment 11 such as a shirt worn for strenuous exercise suchas sports, an arm A is larger in displacement than a body trunk part Bwhen the arm is raised or rotated. Hence, each sleeve 14 that covers thearm A large in displacement needs to have a function (upwardretainability) of preventing the sleeve 14 from dropping during a motionand reducing twitches caused by contact with an arm upper part.Moreover, the garment body that covers the body trunk part A small indisplacement needs to have a function (position stability) of reducingtwitches caused by inward/outward or frontward/backward displacement ofthe garment body during a motion.

As a result of measuring a change in shape of a shoulder upper partduring arm raising, as illustrated in FIG. 4 to FIG. 6, the arm A andthe body trunk part B are bent around trapezius muscle stop points whenthe shoulder is rotated outward. Then, trapezius muscle stop points b₁,b₂, and b₃ as arm bending points move toward the neck side point N₂ asthe shoulder is rotated outward. In the case of an average adult man,the distances from the neck side point N₂ to the trapezius muscle stoppoints b₁, b₂, and b₃ are as follows: the distance from the trapeziusmuscle stop point b₁ to the neck side point N₂ in an arm lowered stateis 75 mm; the distance from the trapezius muscle stop point b₂ to theneck side point N₂ in a state where the arm A is raised at an angle of90° as indicated by an alternate long and short dash line in FIG. 4 is60 mm; and the distance from the trapezius muscle stop point b₃ to theneck side point N₂ in a state where the arm A is raised at an angle of150° as indicated by a broken line in FIG. 4 is 45 mm. In this way, asthe arm A is raised from its lowered state, the trapezius muscle stoppoints b₁, b₂, and b₃ move toward the neck side point N₂.

Unfortunately, the conventional set-in sleeve and the conventionalraglan sleeve are designed without considering the positions of the armbending points, that is, the trapezius muscle stop points b₁, b₂, and b₃when the arm A is raised or rotated.

For example, as illustrated in FIG. 4 to FIG. 6, the armhole 15 of theset-in sleeve is designed to suit the shape of the arm A from theshoulder tip point S when the arm A is naturally lowered. That is,because fitness standards are placed on a static state of the humanbody, the sleeve drops during arm raising, and twitches are caused bycontact with the arm upper part. In this regard, the upwardretainability of the sleeve is not considered.

Moreover, as illustrated in FIG. 6, the armhole 15 of the set-in sleeveis located on the outer side of a border (a region in light black)between the body trunk part B small in displacement and the arm A largein displacement. Hence, when the arm A is rotated, the garment bodycontacts the arm A large in displacement, and the garment body thus doesnot fit the body trunk part B, so that even the garment body that isoriginally undesired to move moves unfavorably.

Meanwhile, the raglan sleeve is designed to follow the roundness of theshoulder tip of the human body to some degree, considering wear comfort.Accordingly, although not as obviously as the set-in sleeve, the sleeveedge of the raglan sleeve faces downward. Hence, the sleeve drops duringarm raising, and twitches are caused by contact with the arm upper part.In this regard, the upward retainability of the sleeve is notconsidered.

Moreover, as illustrated in FIG. 7 to FIG. 9, the armhole 15 of theraglan sleeve is located across the border between the body trunk part Bsmall in displacement and the arm A large in displacement. Hence, whenthe arm A is rotated, the sleeve 14 contacts the arm A large indisplacement, and the garment body thus does not fit the body trunk partB, so that even the garment body that is originally undesired to movemoves unfavorably.

Moreover, the bicycle shirt (a product of GOLDWIN INC., in which cuttingdesign “AERO FORM” is adopted) of Patent Literature 3 is designedconsidering a static motion (posture retention) such that almost nounnecessary crease is caused at a posture at which a wearer rides on abicycle and that a stiffening feeling and a twitching feeling of theshirt are prevented. When the arm is raised or rotated, the sleevedrops, and the garment body unnecessarily largely moves.

The cause for this is as follows. As illustrated in FIG. 10 and FIG. 11,the sleeve peak point 16 of the bicycle shirt of Patent Literature 3 isalso located on the outer side of the trapezius muscle stop point b₁ inan arm lowered state, similarly to general set-in sleeves. Hence, duringa dynamic motion (a motion of raising or rotating the arm), it isdifficult for the sleeve 14 to follow the motion of the arm, so thateven the garment body that is originally undesired to move movesunfavorably.

In view of the above, the present invention has an object to provide anupper garment that prevents sleeves from dropping and a garment bodyfrom unnecessarily largely moving, is less likely to lose its shape, andcan provide a comfortable wear feeling, even during strenuous exercisesuch as sports, particularly, when the arm is raised or rotated.

Solution to Problem

The present invention provides an upper garment including an armholehaving a sleeve peak point that is located between: a trapezius musclestop point on a shoulder ridge line of a wearer in an arm lowered state;and a trapezius muscle stop point on the shoulder ridge line of thewearer in an arm raised state.

As the arm is raised from its lowered state, the position of thetrapezius muscle stop point on the shoulder ridge line moves toward aneck side point.

Accordingly, the sleeve peak point of the armhole is located between:the trapezius muscle stop point on the shoulder ridge line of the wearerin the arm lowered state; and the trapezius muscle stop point on theshoulder ridge line of the wearer in the arm raised state, whereby anarm bending point during arm raising and the armhole coincide with eachother. Hence, when the arm is raised or rotated, sleeves can beprevented from dropping, and a garment body can be prevented fromunnecessarily largely moving.

Further, a portion of the armhole on a front garment body side isdesigned to pass through a deltopectoral groove between a deltoid muscleand a pectoralis major muscle of the wearer. With this design, thearmhole is located on a border between the arm part large indisplacement and a body trunk part small in displacement. Hence, theupward retainability of the sleeves and the position stability of thegarment body become excellent.

A lower portion of the armhole on the front garment body side isdesigned to pass through a front armpit point of the wearer, a portionof the armhole on a back garment body side is designed to pass through ascapular spine protruding part of the wearer, and a lower portion of thearmhole on the back garment body side is designed to pass through a backarmpit point of the wearer. With these designs, the armhole follows theborder between the arm large in displacement and the body trunk partsmall in displacement. Hence, the upward retainability of the sleevesand the position stability of the garment body become more excellent.

Moreover, the portion of the armhole on the front garment body side isconcaved so as to follow a concave of the deltopectoral groove betweenthe deltoid muscle and the pectoralis major muscle of the wearer,whereby the wear feeling can be further improved.

Advantageous Effects of Invention

In an upper garment according to the present invention, an arm bendingpoint during arm raising and an armhole coincide with each other. Hence,the upper garment is less likely to lose its shape and can provide acomfortable wear feeling even during strenuous exercise such as sports.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a front view illustrating an upper garment according to thepresent invention together with a skeleton view.

FIG. 2 is a back view illustrating the upper garment according to thepresent invention together with the skeleton view.

FIG. 3 is a partial plan view of the upper garment according to thepresent invention.

FIG. 4 is a front view illustrating a conventional upper garment havinga set-in sleeve structure, together with a skeleton view.

FIG. 5 is a back view illustrating the conventional upper garment havingthe set-in sleeve structure, together with the skeleton view.

FIG. 6 is a partial plan view of the conventional upper garment havingthe set-in sleeve structure.

FIG. 7 is a front view illustrating a conventional upper garment havinga raglan sleeve structure, together with a skeleton view.

FIG. 8 is a back view illustrating the conventional upper garment havingthe raglan sleeve structure, together with the skeleton view.

FIG. 9 is a partial plan view of the conventional upper garment havingthe raglan sleeve structure.

FIG. 10 is a front view illustrating a conventional bicycle shirttogether with a skeleton view.

FIG. 11 is a back view illustrating the conventional bicycle shirttogether with the skeleton view.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

An upper garment 1 according to the present invention includes a frontgarment body 2, a back garment body 3, and sleeves 4. The sleeves 4 andthe front garment body 2 are sewn to each other through armholes 5, andthe sleeves 4 and the back garment body 3 are sewn to each other throughthe armholes 5.

A sleeve peak point 6 of each armhole 5 in the upper garment 1 accordingto the present invention is located between: a trapezius muscle stoppoint b₁ on a shoulder ridge line L of a wearer in an arm A loweredstate; and a trapezius muscle stop point b₃ on the shoulder ridge line Lof the wearer in an arm A raised state (indicated by a broken line ineach of FIG. 1 and FIG. 2).

As the arm A is raised from its lowered state, as illustrated in FIG. 1and FIG. 2, the position of the trapezius muscle stop point b₁ on theshoulder ridge line L moves to b₂ and then b₃ toward a neck side pointN₂.

In FIG. 2, C denotes a trapezius muscle. Moreover, in FIG. 1, D denotesa pectoralis major muscle, E denotes a deltoid muscle, and adeltopectoral groove between the deltoid muscle E and the pectoralismajor muscle D is hatched. In FIG. 1 to FIG. 3, S denotes a shoulder tippoint, and N₁ denotes a neck back center point.

In the case of an average adult man, the distances from the neck sidepoint N₂ to the trapezius muscle stop points b₁, b₂, and b₃ are asfollows: the distance to the trapezius muscle stop point b₁ in the armlowered state is 75 mm; the distance to the trapezius muscle stop pointb₂ in a state where the arm A is raised at an angle of 90° is 60 mm; andthe distance to the trapezius muscle stop point b₃ in a state where thearm A is raised at an angle of 150° is 45 mm. As the arm A is raisedfrom its lowered state, the trapezius muscle stop points b₁, b₂, and b₃move toward the neck side point N₂.

Accordingly, in the case of designing the upper garment 1 worn by theaverage adult man, an allowance is set such that the sleeve peak point 6of the armhole 5 is located within a range of 45 mm to 75 mm from theshoulder tip point S toward the neck side point N₂.

In this way, the sleeve peak point 6 of the armhole 5 is locatedbetween: the trapezius muscle stop point b₁ on the shoulder ridge line Lof the wearer in the arm A lowered state; and the trapezius muscle stoppoint b₃ on the shoulder ridge line L of the wearer in the arm A raisedstate, whereby an arm bending point during arm raising and the armhole 5coincide with each other. Hence, when the arm A is raised or rotated,the sleeves 4 can be prevented from dropping, and the front garment body2 and the back garment body 3 can be prevented from unnecessarilylargely moving.

Then, a portion of the armhole 5 on the front garment body 2 side isdesigned to pass through the deltopectoral groove between the deltoidmuscle E and the pectoralis major muscle D of the wearer. With thisdesign, the armhole 5 is located on a border between the arm A large indisplacement and a body trunk part B small in displacement. Hence, theupward stability of the sleeves and the position stability of thegarment body become excellent.

A lower portion of the armhole 5 on the front garment body 2 side isdesigned to pass through a front armpit point F of the wearer, a portionof the armhole 5 on the back garment body 3 side is designed to passthrough a scapular spine protruding part G of the wearer, and a lowerportion of the armhole 5 on the back garment body 3 side is designed topass through a back armpit point H of the wearer. With these designs,the armhole 5 is located on the border between the arm A large indisplacement and the body trunk part B small in displacement. Hence, theupward retainability of the sleeves and the position stability of thegarment body become more excellent.

Moreover, as indicated by an arrow I in FIG. 3, the portion of thearmhole 5 on the front garment body 2 side is concaved so as to follow aconcave of the deltopectoral groove between the deltoid muscle E and thepectoralis major muscle D of the wearer, whereby the wear feeling isfurther improved.

In FIG. 2, the position of the trapezius muscle stop point b₃ on theshoulder ridge line L of the wearer in the arm A raised state is closerto the neck back center point N₁ by 11% to 17% of the distance (a halfof the shoulder width) between the neck back center point N₁ and theshoulder tip point S, from the trapezius muscle stop point b₁ on theshoulder ridge line L of the wearer in the arm A lowered state.

Moreover, the position of the trapezius muscle stop point b₃ on theshoulder ridge line L of the wearer in the arm A raised state is closerto the shoulder tip point S by 62% to 66% of the distance (a half of theshoulder width) between the neck back center point N₁ and the shouldertip point S, from the neck back center point N₁.

Accordingly, the sleeve peak point 6 of the armhole 5 in the uppergarment 1 according to the present invention is located closer to theneck back center point N₁ by 11% to 17% from the trapezius muscle stoppoint b₁ on the shoulder ridge line L of the wearer in the arm A loweredstate.

Moreover, the position of the trapezius muscle stop point b₃ on theshoulder ridge line L of the wearer in the arm A raised state, forpositioning the sleeve peak point 6 of the armhole 5 in the uppergarment 1 according to the present invention, may be determined to becloser to the shoulder tip point S by 62% to 66% of the distance (a halfof the shoulder width) between the neck back center point N₁ and theshoulder tip point S, from the neck back center point N₁.

Next, Table 1 shows results of measurement whose subjects are ten adultmen (average height: 170.6 cm), the measurement concerning the positionsof the trapezius muscle stop points and the like. Here, the averagevalue and the standard deviation are calculated for each parameter, and“‘average value−standard deviation’ to ‘average value+standarddeviation’” is defined as the range of each parameter.

TABLE 1 Half of Shoulder BP b₃ BP Measurement Height Width MovingPosition Moving Subject (mm) (mm) b₁ b₃ Amount Ratio Ratio A 1690 235190 155 35 66 15 B 1700 220 170 140 30 64 14 C 1700 220 175 135 40 61 18D 1680 220 175 140 35 64 16 E 1760 240 185 160 25 67 10 F 1700 235 180155 25 66 11 G 1670 210 170 135 35 64 17 H 1710 225 165 140 25 62 11 I1720 220 170 140 30 64 14 J 1730 220 170 135 35 61 16 Average 1,706 mmAverage M 144 32 64 14 Standard  9  5  2  3 Deviation σ Maximum 160 4067 18 Minimum 135 25 61 10 M − σ-M + σ 135-153 mm 27-37 mm 62-66% 11-17%

In Table 1, the measurement subjects A to J are ten adult men, whoseaverage height is 170.6 cm.

In Table 1, the half of the shoulder width means the distance betweenthe neck back center point N₁ and the shoulder tip point S, b₁ means thedistance (mm) from the neck back center point N₁ to the trapezius musclestop point in the arm lowered state, b₃ means the distance (mm) from theneck back center point N₁ to the trapezius muscle stop point in thestate where the arm is raised at the angle of 150°, the BP moving amountmeans the moving distance (mm) of the trapezius muscle stop point towardthe inner side (toward the neck back center point N₁) from b₁ in the armlowered state to b₃ in the state where the arm is raised at 150°, the b₃moving ratio means the ratio (%) of the position of b₃ to the half ofthe shoulder width (=[the position of b₃/the half of the shoulderwidth]×100), and the BP moving ratio means the ratio (%) of the BPmoving amount to the half of the shoulder width (=[the BP movingamount/the half of shoulder width]×100).

As described above in Table 1, the “BP moving amount” means the movingdistance of the “trapezius muscle stop points b₁, b₂, and b₃” toward theneck back center point N₁ from the arm lowered state to the state wherethe arm is raised at 150°. Accordingly, the sleeve peak point 6 is setsuch that the trapezius muscle stop point b₃ on the shoulder ridge lineL of the wearer in the arm A raised state is closer to the neck backcenter point N₁ by 11% to 17% of the distance between the neck backcenter point N₁ and the shoulder tip point S, from the trapezius musclestop point b₁ on the shoulder ridge line L of the wearer in the arm Alowered state. In this way, the arm bending point during arm raising andthe armhole can be made coincident with each other.

Moreover, from Table 1, the “b₃ position ratio” (the ratio of the“position of b₃” to the “half of the shoulder width”) is 62% to 66%.Here, the position of b₃ means the distance between the “neck backcenter point N₁” and the “trapezius muscle stop point” in the statewhere the arm is raised at 150°. Accordingly, the sleeve peak point 6 isset such that the trapezius muscle stop point b₃ on the shoulder ridgeline L of the wearer in the arm A raised state is closer to the shouldertip point S by 62% to 66% of the distance between the neck back centerpoint N₁ and the shoulder tip point S, from the neck back center pointN₁. Also in this way, the arm bending point during arm raising and thearmhole can be made coincident with each other.

Note that, although Table 1 shows the results of the measurement whosesubjects are adult men, it is considered that similar ratios areobtained for both the “BP moving ratio” and the “b₃ position ratio” evenin the case where the measurement subjects are other than adult men.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST

-   1 upper garment-   2 front garment body-   3 back garment body-   4 sleeve-   5 armhole-   6 sleeve peak point-   A arm-   B body trunk part-   C trapezius muscle-   D pectoralis major muscle-   E deltoid muscle-   F front armpit point-   G scapular spine protruding part-   H back armpit point-   I concave-   b₁, b₂, b₃ trapezius muscle stop point-   N₁ neck back center point-   L shoulder ridge line-   S shoulder tip point

1. An upper garment, comprising an armhole having a sleeve peak pointthat is located between: a trapezius muscle stop point on a shoulderridge line of a wearer in an arm lowered state; and a trapezius musclestop point on the shoulder ridge line of the wearer in an arm raisedstate.
 2. The upper garment according to claim 1, wherein a portion ofthe armhole on a front garment body side passes through a deltopectoralgroove between a deltoid muscle and a pectoralis major muscle of thewearer.
 3. The upper garment according to claim 2, wherein a lowerportion of the armhole on the front garment body side passes through afront armpit point of the wearer.
 4. The upper garment according toclaim 1, wherein a portion of the armhole on a back garment body sidepasses through a scapular spine protruding part of the wearer.
 5. Theupper garment according to claim 4, wherein a lower portion of thearmhole on the back garment body side passes through a back armpit pointof the wearer.
 6. The upper garment according to claim 1, wherein theportion of the armhole on the front garment body side is concaved so asto follow a concave of the deltopectoral groove between the deltoidmuscle and the pectoralis major muscle of the wearer.
 7. The uppergarment according to claim 1, wherein the sleeve peak point ispositioned such that the trapezius muscle stop point on the shoulderridge line of the wearer in the arm raised state is closer to a neckback center point by 11% to 17% of a distance between the neck backcenter point and a shoulder tip point, from the trapezius muscle stoppoint on the shoulder ridge line of the wearer in the arm lowered state.8. The upper garment according to claim 1, wherein the sleeve peak pointis positioned such that the trapezius muscle stop point on the shoulderridge line of the wearer in the arm raised state is closer to a shouldertip point by 62% to 66% of a distance between a neck back center pointand the shoulder tip point, from the neck back center point.